consulate in ben benghazi have been arrested in libya. meanwhile, president obama has spoken with leaders following the violent protests there. now back to "hardball." >>> welcome back to "hardball." both mitt romney and barack obama are focusing a lot of their attention on three key states this november, obviously, ohio, florida, and virginia. romney is at a big disadvantage in all three states. here's the latest nbc news marist poll. florida like autovoters, that's. in ohio, the president has a seven-point lead. 50% to the 43%. and what could he do to turn things around? chuck todd and correspondent and gentlemen, i don't know what all of this means and what's going to happen and our polls were conducted and, hey, don't forget it's part of the bounce. >> the sugar high. >> which also tells me, the numbers are pretty right. where the race is right now. >> what's interesting -- >> it's still a high. >> this is a very rigid electorate. this is a big -- is this real? is this any less real that we've seen before. >> the fundamentals remain t